Chris Higgins features twice in the latest edition of Books for Keeps – there’s a terrific 4 star review here of her new book, Trouble at School (Books for Keeps reviewed Trouble Next Door extremely favourably too when it came out), and an interview here about her approach to writing for 6 to 9 year-olds.
Chris draws heavily on her own memories, and the experiences of her own children and grandchildren. Here she is describing her first day at secondary school – she was the only pupil there from her previous school, so she knew nobody. ‘I was terrified in assembly because I saw that everyone was wearing their school cardigans. I didn’t have mine because my mother hadn’t finished knitting it. Then I spotted one other girl without a cardigan and at the end of assembly I managed to go and stand next to her. I remember asking, “Didn’t your mum finish your cardigan either?” And she said “I don’t want to wear a cardigan, it’s too hot”. I was bowled over!’
She’s still friendly with the girl who didn’t want to wear a cardigan – and we hope that Magda and Bella, the stars of the Trouble books, will remain friends for many books to come.
Trouble Next Door and Trouble at School are illustrated by Emily Mackenzie and published by Bloomsbury Kids.
